Extreme horror done right: Eric the Pie by Graham Masterton

[@eriebeverly]

The Video Nasties being banned and now this. It's amazing you got any horror at all in the UK in the 80s and 90s. 😁

[@themiddleplace]

Were an outlier nation in many ways...🙂

[@susanjohnson5824]

Wow, just read the short story thank you for making it available. It is very disturbing story! but it's very well done. A great little story.

[@suzybearheart530]

Gaaah, just read Eric the Pie. What a nasty but well-written short! I have a 2 year old son and will never ever tell him “You are what you eat” just to be safe 😅. It’s a really great illustration of how kids are so literal and don’t really understand the nuance of so many of the expressions we use in life, so we must be careful. Not that they would all turn into Eric but the part where the scab scared him into not eating for a week seemed like it could really happen to a child. Thanks for the video, Olly!

[@Netty_Noo]

Well … That was very unpleasant… But also GREAT lol .. I adopted the very same facial expression I had when I read American Psycho … A sort of squint with a grimace - almost as if I could smell something awful but have no idea where its coming from face … For a 10 page story , you are absolutely right , just those briefest of paragraphs pack a huge sickening punch better than some of the extreme horrors ( not that Ive read that many ) ! Thanks Olly for sharing it - I feel bad saying I really enjoyed it … lol Thank goodness pie is not for dinner tonight lol 😘 Ps This also another reason this felt great but awful was its set in South London and it was quite nostalgic in parts when GM named places and described the Bus and the people on it .

[@rainroom16]

I remember reading Graham Masterton during the Leisure Books boom at my local used bookstore in the early noughties, especially his book Prey. Such a good haunted house story, though I can't recall anything of the plot. I need to re-read that one and see if I still find it any good.

[@centy64]

Ha that story was grim! What an ending, that redeemed a lot of it for me. Reminds me of the kind of thing I remember reading from one of my older cooler cousins bookshelf when I was younger. Also are craft knives like that not just called Stanley knives in the rest of the UK or is it a hoover vs vacuum cleaner thing? No idea why I'm focusing on that detail lol.

[@morethanaveragejoe8224]

Hi Olly. I remember Clive Barker making a similar observation in terms of showing too much gore on the big screen in an interview conducted by Rick Kleffel. Clive said he'd sat in many screenings of his Hellraiser movie back in the 80's and was surprised to see the crowd's big reaction to the nail sticking out of a banister gouging Larry's hand as he moved a mattress up the stairs. But their reaction wasn't as pronounced towards the end of the movie when things got really messy.

[@suzybearheart530]

That’s really interesting! It’s true - I look away when I know the nail part is coming but have no problem watching the “Jesus Wept” ripping apart. It’s the realism of the nail, the subtly and the relatability of it all that makes me cringe and look away!

[@morethanaveragejoe8224]

@@suzybearheart530 Yep, it's a weird one. But I think you're right about the relatability issue. I forgot to mention that Clive wasn't so much concerned about the gore, but filmmakers needing to be clever about how they show it and to what extent.

[@dawn428]

Hey Olly I was able to buy the first issue of Frighteners magazine so I remember this story vividly 😳 (showing my age a bit lol). Graham Masterton is my fave horror author. I have ALL his books. Keep up the good work 😱

[@felicitymasterton-xo9re]

He's my grandfather!

[@dawn428]

@@felicitymasterton-xo9re oh really that's a joy to know Felicity 🙂

[@Paul_Bond.]

I think that was me Olly! This first came out as an off shoot of FEAR in a magazine called the Frighteners, it helped kill Newsfield as a publisher as no one would stock it. W.H Smith basically told them to fuck off. At the time you couldn't do this kind of thing, it was a long, long time ago and Eric the Pie was way beyond the norm.

[@Snailslow69]

Read it in a chapbook but don't really remember it, will have to skim it again. Do remember one called Pig's Dinner though.

[@Snailslow69]

Revisited it. It had its moments, but I think Pig's Dinner is better (or worse, on how you look at it).

[@kevsplitterskull3209]

I hadn't heard of this one, and I've read a fair bit of Masterton over the years- more than 5 of them anyway. I find him to be pretty decent, hit or miss. But even the misses are entertaining. My favorite was Prey, a blatant Lovecraft ripoff soaked in blood. Off to read Eric!

[@o.l.iv.e.r.z]

I am just sad for the animals 😕

[@maryc.7103]

I love transgressive books but feel put off by 'splatterpunk' or 'extreme horror' as it's called....there has to be an interesting narrative woven through all the guts to keep me invested. 'The Slob' felt like a waste of time but I loved 'Exquisite Corpse'. I just ordered 'The Piano Teacher' by Elfriede Jelinek based off one of the comments under your past videos. Cheers. Edit: His books are hard to get ahold of, but I'm curious if you've read anything by Peter Sotos and what your thoughts on him are.

[@JessicaSzempruch]

A very appalling yet interesting little story. I liked the ending the most. Yay rats! 😂

[@AmbitiousSpiderSA]

It was way more graphic and disturbing, but I also feel like if Masterton through in a few bad puns it wouldn't be far off from an EC comics story. So while I can't say I liked it exactly, it was gross and effective.

[@felicitymasterton-xo9re]

He's my grandfather I have a photo with himand everything

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Oh wow, that's really cool. Tell him I think he's great!

[@Frostie-id8bj]

I will😊

[@themiddleplace]

3 things, 1) a friend is reading mastersons new stuff at the moment and it's been giving her nightmares! 😂 2) I expressed similar sentiments regarding extreme horror on your discord recently and the two you named were two of the ones I was thinking of! 3) I will seek out a copy of "Eric the pie!"

[@kelleywoods5244]

I can't download the file, but I'm in New Zealand. Extra curious about this story now!

[@suzybearheart530]

I’m in the US and it took a couple attempts but I almost wish I hadn’t been able to read it 😂 it was pretty gross.

[@johnward5404]

Just got done reading an extreme horror by Wrath James White and Edward Lee called the Teratologist… pretty repulsive, and while I liked the story fine, the book was very much in need of an editor. (The name of one of the main characters changes back and forth for the duration of the book) Thanks for the video I wanna read this now!

[@ursweetsab]

Can you do an audiobook of it.

[@elliyo4286]

I began reading it, but I only read the first 2-3 pages and then skipped some because (as I realized, sadly, a little too late ^^) I am very sensitive when it comes to anything to do with cats. There was a scene before that that made ma almost gag, but that was fine for me, it was just the cat scene that I couldn't read through. I try not to be hard on myself for not being able to make it through that, but I do have cats and I can't get the pictures out of my mind now ._. especially because I know there are cruel people like this. Though the first and last few pages were really interestingly written, in such a non-emotional way! I think 'Ew' captues it quite well :D

[@Xbalanque84]

Huh... Well, that would certainly explain why horror films and games seem to inevitably devolve into action series the longer they go on.

[@M-J]

Do I or don’t I. Do I or don’t I? 😂

[@diamondslashranch]

Don’t do it😂😂

[@M-J]

@@diamondslashranch I won’t! 😁

[@Paul_Bond.]

Hard one to call, I would say, don't bother, unless you like horrible shit.

[@M-J]

@@Paul_Bond. well, I’ve read some disturbing over the last two years. I’m leaning towards « don’t bother » 😂 thanks!

[@Paperbird76]

Thanks for letting me read this before going to sleep Olly! 😳🤮

[@Paul_Bond.]

Damn, look like a fool now, everything I said you said!

[@CriminOllyBlog]

LOL!

[@hannahmorgan8580]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! - that’s my review

[@diamondslashranch]

Well that was awful😂

[@CriminOllyBlog]

LMAO!

[@DDB168]

Hmmm, nah. I like food, and pies. I dont want to read it 😊